Former UFC title challenger Thiago Alves expects to be out till mid-2013 following surgery

Don’t expect to see onetime UFC welterweight title challenger Thiago Alves (19-9 MMA, 11-6 UFC) back in the octagon for a while.

The Florida-based Brazilian recently underwent surgery and rather than make a hasty return, he has elected to take his time coming back to heal up other longstanding nagging injuries at the same time.

Alves estimates he may not return to action until June 2013. He most recently fought this past March.

“Me, my camp at American Top Team and my (manager) Dan Lambert decided after chest surgery this year to fix my left knee, as well,” Alves stated on his Twitter account. “Take care (of) all my injuries and health issues to come back stronger then ever for 2013! (I’ve) been fighting with a bad left knee since 2009 before the first time I was supposed to fight (Jon) Fitch and didn’t happen cause of my left PCL. Over the years, (it’s) just been getting worse – after three years, my ACL is damaged now.

“So it is time to rebuild the machine to come back strong for 2013!”

Alves, who turned 29 a month ago, has been up and down in the UFC since earning a shot at Georges St-Pierre’s welterweight title with a win over Josh Koscheck at UFC 90 in October 2008. Koscheck took that fight on short notice, filling in for Diego Sanchez. But Alves picked up the unanimous decision and got a shot at St-Pierre the following July.

But at UFC 100, Alves ran into the same problem as nearly every other St-Pierre challenger and lost a unanimous decision sweep.

Alves was targeted for a rematch with Fitch at UFC 107 in December 2009, but a knee injury knocked him out of that fight. They were re-booked for UFC 111, but an abnormal CT scan came back for Alves and he underwent minor surgery to remove a malformation on his brain.

The two finally met again at UFC 117, but Fitch dominated the fight, winning a unanimous decision – after Alves failed to make weight for the second time in four fights.

Alves rebounded with a unanimous decision win over John Howard at UFC 124, then dropped a decision to Rick Story at UFC 130. He came back from that loss with a submission win over Papy Abedi at UFC 138 and looked to be back on track with his first stoppage victory since a knockout win over Matt Hughes at UFC 85 (when he also failed to make weight).

But in March, at UFC on FX 2 in Australia, Alves dominated Martin Kampmann for two rounds and appeared to be cruising to a victory through the third round when Alves shot for a takedown and fell right into a guillotine choke that he had to tap from just 48 seconds from a big win.

Alves was expected to return in July at UFC 149, but the month prior pulled out with an injury and has been sidelined since then.

Provided he does return by the summer 2013 timeline he’s hoping for, he’ll be looking to get back in the win column and then put together a win streak for the first time in what will be five years, since just before he challenged St-Pierre for the 170-pound title.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.